EXCLUSIVE:
Bette Midler and Her Husband Martin Von Haselberg Almost Called It Quits — Find out What Saved Their Marriage!

Bette Midler and her husband Martin von Haselberg have been married for 32 years — which is no small feat, especially according to Hollywood standards. But the couple has been open about their struggles in the past, and there was speculation that they hit another rough patch earlier this month.

The 71-year-old reached a career milestone when she won her first-ever Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Broadway’s Hello, Dolly! on Sunday, June 11 — and even though her 68-year-old hubby leaned in to give her a quick congratulatory kiss on the cheek before she made her way to the stage, it seemed like she forgot to mention him in her thank you speech.

“Oh, he understood,” a friend of the actress exclusively tells Closer. “Martin is confident about what he means to Bette, and she doesn’t have to shout that from the rooftops.”

Bette married Martin — a performance artist and commodities trader — in Las Vegas in 1984, but she was 39 years old at the time and was experiencing a big push in her career. She felt that Martin did not understand the stress she was under.

The pressure she was feeling boiled over into her personal life and Bette admitted herself that the couple used to fight “bitterly.” But then they found a common ground, and they made a decision that would save their marriage.

In 1986 Bette and Martin welcomed their first — and only — child together, daughter Sophia von Haselberg. Embarking on the journey of parenthood together brought them closer together, and she’s even gushed about her hubby in the past.

“My husband is probably the greatest father who ever lived!” she said in a 2014 interview with People. “He picked up the slack when I was on the road. He taught her a foreign language. He taught her to cook!”